Theatre of the Absurd: Audiences Assaulting Fictional ‘Nazis’—On Stage and Off
7th March 2026
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” So wrote William Shakespeare in As You Like It. Yet certain modern-day theatregoers apparently do not understand the difference between the space upon the boards and off them; hence, they have taken Shakespeare’s words literally and decided to reshape the world around them into one gigantic interactive left-wing morality play, with themselves as the central heroes and heroines.
Working-class ‘groundlings’ crowding into the pit of the theatre during Shakespeare’s own day were notoriously unruly, but such misbehaviour was largely limited to hurling abuse and rotten fruit at thespians they took a dislike to. Middle-class theatregoers in our own day are far worse, actively attacking and trying to kill any actors they don’t like—on the grounds they are supposedly ‘Nazis’.